Check In, Swim Out: The Boggsville Boatel

 

Artist and boat-builder Constance Hockaday has constructed a series of floating hotel rooms and a theater at Marina 59 at Far Rockaway in New York City. Boggsville is a floating hotel and theater built in the Neutrino tradition, that is, fashioned out of abandoned and re-claimed boats from the marina. Five of the vessels are leisure fishing crafts from the 70’s and early 80’s, ranging from 28 to 35 feet long. Another is a 70’s drifter houseboat remodeled into a rustic penthouse. The boats are all moored around a floating platform in the middle of a small bay.

Named for Ms. Nancy Boggs, who would move her floating brothel to either side of the Willamette River of Portland to evade the law – depending on where the authorities were bringing trouble to her business – the Boatel explores the boundaries of the hospitality experience.

The Neutrino drifted into Port Isabel, Texas where a 19 year-old college dropout named Constance Hockaday was living with her parents. Hockaday, a rather alienated young woman, immediately became enthralled with the idea of living on a boat and not paying rent. Before long, she was on the boat, so to speak. Her life hasn’t been the same since.

“It’s kind of a post-apocalyptic adventure,” said Katie McKay, 34, a designer from Brooklyn who was staying aboard the houseboat with four friends. “It doesn’t feel like you’re in New York at all.” 

 

The Boatel is the work of an artist, Constance Hockaday, who said she hopes to attract the romantic and the adventurous — and amid them, the marina’s neighbors — to this unlikely getaway. Under the auspices of Flux Factory, a Queens gallery, it will be open for reservations Thursday through Saturday all summer long, an experiment in urban vacationing and D.I.Y. ingenuity.

“When you think about it, the water is the last remaining open public space,” said Jean Barberis, the artistic director of Flux Factory. “As artists and creative people venture more and more into the outer boroughs, there’s less and less unclaimed territory on land. But the water is still completely open.”

Boggsville Boatel is a floating hotel and theater fashioned out of abandoned and re-claimed boats, all of which sleep 2-5 people. Five of the vessels are leisure fishing crafts from the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s, ranging from 28 to 40 feet long. Another is a 70’s drifter houseboat remodeled into a rustic penthouse. Rooms include dinner and access to the Swimming Cities GOING AWAY PARTY on Sept 10, from 8pm-late. Kick it on your poop deck four blocks from the beach with cold beer, all of your friends and swim trunks—plus Cocktail Cruises in Jamaica Bay, Jerk Burgers & Pineapple Hot Dogs by Carnival Queen Lamar Iposa and Sea Shanty Karaoke.

July 7 – September 4
Marina 59, 5914 Beach Channel Drive, Far Rockaway

-THE BOATS-

Americano is a Guido vessel with a long sloping bow. This boat is very private. The windows are tinted and the inside is very Slick Rick. $50 a night.

CRUMB is a quaint and comfortable boat and was probably previously owned by an elderly couple. There is a private sleeping area; it's spacious and perfect for rolling around in. She sleeps 4 people. This boat also has a shaded top deck with reclining furniture. $50 a night.

New York, NY is Euro. This boat has been remodeled to be more open than she was originally designed to be. She sleeps 3-4 people, and she has a breakfast nook, a great space for preparing lunches, and a desk for the writer-ly types. $50 a night.

Queen Zenobia is a classy little 30-foot yacht. She can sleep 3-4 people, if they are willing to snuggle up. On this boat there is a comfortable little breakfast nook and plenty of deck space for lounging around. $50 a night.

Ms. Nancy Boggs is a rustic floating cabin. This 1967 Drift-R houseboat has been remodeled into down-home love nest. This boat can sleep up to 5 people. There are two beds, one of which can fit 3.5 people. It is the perfect place to roll around with more than one or two. It has a spacious breakfast nook and several decks for sun bathing, fishing, or picnicking. $100 a night.

 

 

 

 

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World Largest Outdoor Swimming Pool - San Alfonso del Mar

If you like doing laps in the swimming pool, you might want to stock up on the energy drinks before diving in to this one. It is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, has a 115-foot deep end, and holds 66 million gallons of water.

Chile, home to immense natural beauty from lakes to parks to beaches, can now add another appeal to its two million tourists annually with the Guinness World Record holder of the world's largest pool, The Crystal Lagoon at the San Alfonso Del Mar Resort.
San Alfonso is located at only 90 kilometers apart from Santiago in Algarrobo's northern sector, the closer beach spot to the eastern sector of the capital city.

Swimming a length in this, the world’s largest outdoor pool, would mean stroke after stroke for more than three fifths of a mile – that’s 20 Olympic-size swimming pools.
The enormous man-made lagoon is set halfway up the country’s Pacific coast, in the city of Algarrobo, and is filled with 66 million gallons of crystal clear seawater.
It also hold the Guinness record for the world’s deepest – so if you don’t feel like diving 115ft to the bottom, it might be best to bring some spare goggles.
The Crystal Lagoon reportedly took over five years to construct, which totaled over $1.2 billion, and opened to the public in December 2006 and costs over $3 million to maintain annually.
It uses a computer-controlled suction and filtration system to suck water in from the ocean at one end and pump it out at the other, while the sun warms it to 75 degrees – nine degrees higher than the sea.

Chilean biochemist Fernando Fischmann, whose Crystal Lagoons Corporation designed the pool, said advanced engineering meant his company could build "an impressive artificial paradise" even in inhospitable areas. It uses hardly any chemicals.
"As long as we have access to unlimited seawater, we can make it work, and it causes no damage to the ocean."

For sport lovers, there are sport schools imparting training classes on sailing, kayak, scuba diving, swimming, ocean navigation, golf, tennis and paragliding, and they also will find at their disposal artificially-lit five-a-side soccer courts, volleyball courts and tennis courts, a real statutory soccer field, a last-generation 3D golf simulator and a gym with large windows that enjoy a stimulating overview of the lagoon.
Children have play grounds and entertainment activities organized by child monitors, whereas teenagers have an exclusive space destined for them - the Teen-Pub -, and also SubTerra discotheque, where often music recitals and live shows are featured.
The Beach Club with spa, a tempered beach under a crystal pyramid, open-air Jacuzzis, sauna, beauty parlor and gym; the Blue Spa, the first medical spa in Chile; the cybercafé; the exhibition and cultural activities room; the open-air amphitheater; the Lighthouse Café with icecream parlor and teashop; the sushi Lighthouse; the supermarket and the North Bay pub-restaurant with its own dock and a large terrace along the lagoon’s coastline – where often amusing parties and shows are held – are also part of San Alfonso's facilities.
To all that, the South Bay development has to be added, where the SubAqua Café stands out for its inner aquarium, the largest in Chile, which holds more that 60 Chilean species that can be appreciated in full magnitude through a 25-meters-long glass surface. A giant 100-meters-long water chute is also located in this zone. This sector will be completed by the South Bay Pub that will have a multiple-level restaurant, a Jacuzzi-bar with a giant screen and a gym.

Along with views of the sea and white sandy beaches, visitors can engage in a myriad of activities from boating to snorkeling.
San Alfonso has created a private world with activities for all family members to spend days full of enjoyment without ever leaving the resort.

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Giethoorn, “the Venice of Holland”

 

For anyone dreaming of a simple life, you may want to consider moving to a rural village in the northwest corner of the province of Overijssel, Giethoorn, Netherlands.

Giethoorn, also known as “the Venice of Holland” or the “Venice of the North”, is a beautiful village is and wonderful place to spend a couple of hours. It’s a lot smaller, less crowded and doesn’t have the rich history of the real Venice, but if you enjoy long, peaceful boat rides while admiring classic Dutch sceneries, Giethoorn will make a great impression on you.
This idyllic village has no roads, and the only access is by water over the many beautiful canals or on foot over its wooden arch bridges. The locals use punters to get around and cars have to remain outside the village.

Giethoorn is located at the edge of a national park (Weerribben-Wieden), a beautiful area.
The village Giethoorn is home to less than 3000 people, most of them live on their private islands. The around 180 bridges are the only way to reach many houses, other than by boat that is.
It's no surprise Giethoorn is a popular tourist attraction and has been given the nickname the Venice of the Netherlands. Cycling and sailing as well as a guided canal tour are some of the many ways to discover its rustic charm.

Located in the center of the Netherlands, right in the middle of the De Wieden nature reserve, the small village of Giethoorn was in 1230, by a group of fugitives from the Mediterranean region around AD 1230. When they arrived in the area the first thing they noticed was a large mass of goat horns, left over after a flood ravaged the area a few years earlier. They initially named their settlement Geytenoorn (geit = goat), but the dialect suffered some changes over the years and it is now known as Giethoorn.

It became well known in 1958 when it was featured in the film Fanfare, made by Dutch filmmaker Bert Haanstra.

In winter Giethoorn is a very popular destination for ice skaters. During my last years in Holland I lived close to Giethoorn and in cold enough winters I was among the thousands who would go to Giethoorn to ice skate on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Informations (brochures) about Giethoorn and surroundings you can inform at the Tourist Information office VVV at 0031-521-362124. Unfortunately the tourist office has no information brochures available in English. Pleas contact the above mentioned telephone number for informations about hotel addresses. For RESERVATIONS guided canaltours or rent a boat info@zwaantje.nl

For more information visit:
http://www.zwaantje.nl/uk.giethoorn.html 

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